Early British Lightweight Para Helmet (M76)

[Jerry B]

I’ve managed to finally pick up what I believe to be an early British lightweight para helmet. I’ve taken it apart and took some pics. I’ve noticed on the liner that there are two Thetford tags that both end with different contract numbers and the helmet has a Permali Glos tag on it. Would be grateful to hear your opinions of it

I have two with permali glos tags inside them, one the same as this, undated with a batch no 29 and the other dated 1985 with a read no 101 in the same palce as the batch number.

Both are smooth shells. Obviously one is 1985 and I assume the other is earlier, but were all the earlyish shells made by Permali with Thetford liners before they went to NP production?

[Greg Pickersgill]

It seems almost impossible to know what happened in the early days of the Para Lightweight. Even if Cotton has done research on it we'll have to wait for Volume 2 or even 3, as volume 1 (arriving Real Soon Now no doubt) ends with 1945. I've asked Centurion (the descendants of Thetford Moulded Products) and while people there know they once made military helmets there's no one left to tell and no records either. If I did know whether Permali still exist in any form I have forgotten.

The only way to establish a pattern would be to sytematically dismantle smooth-shell helmets and record the findings. I'd be more than willing to do that if it wasn't so damned hard to take them to pieces (is it just me?). It *seems* plausible that Permali bought in Thetford liners, but only because I've never seen a Permali-badged liner - but then again what if they didn't maker-mark them? I dunno boss.

[Jerry B]

Thanks Greg for responding, I assumed you and Ade and James and others would have something to contribute.


I have three smooth shells, all of which I have dismantled, the third one had no markings.

[Redstalker]

It seems almost impossible to know what happened in the early days of the Para Lightweight. Even if Cotton has done research on it we'll have to wait for Volume 2 or even 3, as volume 1 (arriving Real Soon Now no doubt) ends with 1945. I've asked Centurion (the descendants of Thetford Moulded Products) and while people there know they once made military helmets there's no one left to tell and no records either. If I did know whether Permali still exist in any form I have forgotten.

The only way to establish a pattern would be to sytematically dismantle smooth-shell helmets and record the findings. I'd be more than willing to do that if it wasn't so damned hard to take them to pieces (is it just me?). It *seems* plausible that Permali bought in Thetford liners, but only because I've never seen a Permali-badged liner - but then again what if they didn't maker-mark them? I dunno boss.

Hi Greg I’ve established that this light weight helmet I have was worn by a Royal Marine during the Falklands war. He said they were issued them before the scrap his exact words. I’ve asked him if he could narrow the date down so at least we have a rough idea when they could have been made

[Redstalker]

It seems almost impossible to know what happened in the early days of the Para Lightweight. Even if Cotton has done research on it we'll have to wait for Volume 2 or even 3, as volume 1 (arriving Real Soon Now no doubt) ends with 1945. I've asked Centurion (the descendants of Thetford Moulded Products) and while people there know they once made military helmets there's no one left to tell and no records either. If I did know whether Permali still exist in any form I have forgotten.

The only way to establish a pattern would be to sytematically dismantle smooth-shell helmets and record the findings. I'd be more than willing to do that if it wasn't so damned hard to take them to pieces (is it just me?). It *seems* plausible that Permali bought in Thetford liners, but only because I've never seen a Permali-badged liner - but then again what if they didn't maker-mark them? I dunno boss.

Hi Greg I’ve screen shot all the relevant conversations I’ve had about this light weight helmet of mine. I can prove that this helmet was used by a Royal Marine during the Falklands war and his mate who identified this helmet on the other forum has confirmed that he and his troop were issued these helmets early 1982. Screen shot 3 is of a conversation Ricky Strange had with Taff James the previous owner of my helmet. It’s a bit of a read but I’ve tried to condense it down as much as possible without trying to lose anything. The early trials helmets by Permali Glos were undated but had batch numbers where as the later models had read numbers and were dated. The batch number on mine is 26 and confirmed as early 1982 issued. I know it doesn’t give us an exact date of manufacture but it does help knowing it was made before the Falklands war. Enjoy the read as it is interesting and funny

[Redstalker]

Sorry I’ve just realised I missed out the pics with the owners name so here they are better late than never